Tag Archives: XML technology

Innovation takes many forms. In rare cases, it’s creation from scratch, completely novel, utterly unpredicted. More commonly, it’s a union of existing elements, combined in some new or unique way and adjusted for a specific purpose. When applied to biological systems, this is called “emergence” – a higher-level system emerges from a set of lower-level components. Many medical device innovations follow this pattern. Here’s an example from one of our clients – a device that keeps a heart beating (that’s right, when you see it live, the heart is in there, pumping away: incredible) so that it can be transported over longer distances for a life saving transplant. All of the components of this remarkable device existed before they were combined in this specific manner and for this specific purpose: emergence-based innovation. The benefit of an “emergent systems” approach like this is that it reduces risk – of course, there’s the overall risk of the emergent system to consider – but the basis for the system is proven and reliable.

TransPerfect Medical Device Solutions takes a similar approach – we’ve combined validated XML publishing technology with guided authoring capabilities and translation process automation (including online translation review) to produce what we call “The EnCompass System” for labeling automation – a system that can eliminate over +50% of the cost of a traditional, document-based labeling systems: emergence-based innovation! And, our approach has the benefit of lower risk because the modules that make up the EnCompass System have been validated by the world’s leading medical device manufacturers.

The EnCompass System is tomorrow’s content management solution today – and based on industry standards (DITA/XML) so your content won’t be held hostage by proprietary formats.

OK – maybe the recently reported, substantial drop in worldwide medical costs isn’t entirely due to XML publishing technologies…but it’s one good example. All across the healthcare industries, companies and providers are adopting new methods and technologies that are helping them reduce cost and – finally – contain runaway expenses.

In the medical device industry, content-related costs have been growing rapidly over the past 20 years. But recently, companies like Medtronic, J&J, and Stryker have adopted XML publishing as a powerful way to reduce turnaround, cost, and risk – making their products more price-competitive around the world.

For instance, Medtronic implemented an XML content management system from our Vasont division to cut the time and cost of their translation/localization process by 50% – as one Technical Communications Manager there said recently, “We process ten times more content with the same headcount – this wouldn’t be possible without XML.”

XML is just one of the automation technologies offered by TransPerfect Medical Device Solutions to help manufacturers lower their content cost and risk and increase productivity – or, automate the entire labeling process with our EnCompass system. At TransPerfect, we’re helping to drive down the cost of healthcare – and increase profitability for our clients!

Answer: both employ automation to reduce cost. At Walgreens, software algorithms are being used to help guide and standardize patient treatment. Based on “big data” from over 100 million patients, the pharmacy chain is proving that professional services can be semi-automated with helpful results. You can read about it here.

A similar scenario is playing out in the medical device industry. Manufacturers are learning that they can automate content by structuring it with XML/DITA. The process requires patience and effort (though easier than developing a software system for patient treatment). However, it yields big savings and risk reduction. Starting with the XML systems provided by Astoria Software and Vasont Systems, and continuing through the translation process automation technologies of the GlobalLink suite, TransPerfect Medical Device Solutions has the services, know-how, and technologies necessary to automate your content and achieve sustainable cost and risk reduction.

With the growing interest in XML publishing in the medical device industry, this information is now more relevant than ever. Our Astoria and Vasont divisions provide validated systems for device makers like GE Healthcare, Medtronic, and J&J because these systems can reduce localization costs by 40%…but, as you might guess, this level of savings comes at a cost.

The strength of these systems is that they manage content in a “single source” – there is one version of a content chunk (topic) which is reused in other publications or channels. However, if the content contains an error (in the English source or translated target), that error gets replicated out multiple times – this is a classic “propagation risk” and it has very real implications for labeling accuracy and device recall.

The best solution is also a classic: the quality systems principle of “quality at the source”. For translation, it means that appropriate risk management must be employed to produce XML -based translated content. This not only minimizes propagation risk, it also reduces the risk of device recall due to labeling errors.

Recent news highlights the growing importance of XML publishing for the medical device industry: Just before the holidays, TransPerfect announced a merger with Vasont Systems – a leader in componet content management systems for the medical device industry. With the addition of Vasont, TransPerfect adds another XML publishing technology – one that is already in place with medical device manufacturers such as Medtronic and J&J – on top of existing XML technology from Astoria Sofware.

Why is TransPerfect doubling-down on XML technology for medical device? Our work with device manufacturers demonstrates a 50% reduction in labeling cost and turnaround with this automated approach to publishing. In some cases, formatting and formatting QC activities can represent as much 70% of translation turnaround time! Given the cost and margin pressures facing manufacturers today, it’s small wonder that interest in XML publishing is at an all-time high. In response, the Vasont merger substantially broadens the XML technology and service offering available to device makers through TransPerfect Medical Device Solutions.